Summary

This chapter described how to build C and C++ programs with the gcc compiler, how to use make to manage dependencies, how to debug with gdb, how to manage your source files with cvs, and how to use man to write your own documentation. You are now familiar with all the tools that you need to develop complex C and C++ programs under UNIX.

This chapter did not cover the APIs for using UNIX system calls. UNIX provides functions that go far beyond the standard C/C++ libraries. UNIX system calls allow you to get information out of the environment, get the system time, interact with the file system, manage processes, communicate between processes, send/receive information over a network, access shared memory, handle signals, and use semaphores. There are also thread packages available to allow multithreaded programming.

If you find that you need more information about UNIX system calls, you can use the man command to look up function parameters and return values. While there is a wealth of knowledge in the man pages, it can be difficult to know what function name to search for. You can often find the name of the function that you’re looking for with a web search in your favorite search engine, or from the SEE ALSO section at the bottom of the UNIX man pages.